When the truck stops to let the boy out, it is on pavement. When it is shown pulling away, it is on a dirt road off the pavement.
When he rides up to the observatory, Bruce Nelson's sunglasses change from being on his face to being on his pocket.
When the motorcycle stops to pick up the kid, it is close to the pavement on the dirt shoulder. When the scene changes, it is several feet off the pavement.
After the kid is picked up by the motorcyclist, even though they are on the same road, telephone poles appear and disappear.
Poncherello, Nelson, and many people in the Los Angeles area are shown watching the shuttle launch. It is bright and sunny, indicating it is during the daytime. The STS-5 shuttle mission depicted launched at 7:19 AM Eastern time, so it was after 4 AM Pacific time, when it would have been nighttime in Los Angeles. Additionally, the officers shown would not have been on duty at that early hour. Additionally, the shuttle is shown to have reached its destination in space and begin performing operations in just a few minutes when in fact it took far longer.
The CHP does not investigate burglaries to vehicles in shopping mall parking lots.
CHP cadets do not perform field duty as shown, and are not assigned to motorcycles.
While CB base station radio signals can bounce off the atmosphere and travel long distances- known as skip- the portable radio used by the kid would have insufficient range to talk to anyone beyond a mile or so. He was shown using it in remote areas.
During the first motorcycle pursuit, the faster police KZ1000 motorcycles are outrun by a smaller dirt bike. During the chase, a third motorcycle catches up to the CHP bikes and they do not pull away from it, indicating they were being ridden at a lower speed below the speed limit.
The same freshly paved road with telephone poles is used for both the motorcycle and motor home scenes.
The credits give Mrs. Birdwing but when Gatrear introduces her that way she corrects him and says "Miss" Birdwing.
When the dog thief lands his motorcycle after jumping it off a ramp, the entire bike shudders, and the cage attached to the back snaps up and down violently. As pictured, this landing would likely cause severe injury or death to the small dog inside.
The NASA announcer states the orbiter is crossing the California coast at Mach 6 so that it can land at Edwards Air Force Base. The base is located approximately 150 miles inland from the coast. A vehicle doing Mach 6 or over 4,500 MPH would cover 150 miles in about 2 minutes, yet the shuttle is still landing several minutes later.
Kevin tells Ponch and Bobby that he heard the dog thieves talking about meeting at the mall "at 5th and Wilshire," yet 5th Street and Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles run parallel; they don't intersect.
Travel from northern Los Angeles to Edwards AFB would take about an hour and a half at modern speed limits. The CHP officers are shown making the trip in far less time and did not have their emergency lights on upon arrival, indicating normal speeds were used.
Gina was sitting in a car adjacent to the Rolls Royce when the dog was stolen, and was shown seeing the dog's owner yelling about the theft. Within a few days, she did not recognize the owner when she turned up with Linahan to buy the same type of dog that had been stolen.
After the rear tires deflates on the motorcycle, the rider is shown using a standard Honda tool kit from his V45 Magna and states it will take him about an hour to repair it. The Honda tool kit contained only hand tools and no means of repairing a flat tire.
Ponch, Bobby, and Bruce only have a few minutes to search five miles of fence for Kevin, yet they stupidly all stick together while looking for Kevin. It would make more sense for them to split up and take completely different portions of the fence in order to do a thorough search.
No adult truck driver other than a pedophile would pick up a young boy, and he would also not drop the child off alone in a remote area. The murder of Adam Walsh in Florida in 1981 greatly heightened public awareness about crimes against children. This goof is repeated with subsequent adults.